How do I get Winamp/computer to output DTS?

D

Deadjasper

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I'm pulling my hair out over this :mad:

Optical out to receiver. 5.1 speaker setup.

I DL'd and installed the Winamp DTS Decoder and Winamp is using it and will play DTS files.

Problem is, 2 different DTS capable receivers say it ain't DTS they're receiving, it PCM.

So if Winamp is decoding and playing DTS audio files, why isn't the computer outputting DTS??

TIA
 
OK, I went into Win 7 control panel Sounds and tested DTS, no joy. But DD 5.1 does output. :(
 
As I understand it, toslink and coaxial digital sound connections don't have the bandwidth to stream full surround, they are limited to 2 channel audio. The optical links that can do it have to compress the stream first and I'm not sure how to tell if yours can do that or not. If you have an HDMI output option in your playback devices panel you should be able to output full surround that way.
 
Well hell, all this time I thought Toslink and COAX was the only way to get 5.1 and above out of a computer but apparently I was wrong. :(

I read somewhere else that the receiver had to have "hdmi audio switching" in order to separate the audio from the video and I don't think my receiver has this feature.

Do I have any other alternatives?
 
Where did you get the DTS files from? Are the from a DTS CD or a DVD?

If you want to send them to a receiver as DTS you don't want or need a DTS decoder.
 
Ryom said:
As I understand it, toslink and coaxial digital sound connections don't have the bandwidth to stream full surround, they are limited to 2 channel audio. The optical links that can do it have to compress the stream first and I'm not sure how to tell if yours can do that or not. If you have an HDMI output option in your playback devices panel you should be able to output full surround that way.
Click to expand...

Optical and Coax support...
2 Channel audio PCM (uncompressed audio)
5.1/6.1 with Dolby Digital and DTS (lossy)
 
Stereodude said:
Where did you get the DTS files from? Are the from a DTS CD or a DVD?

If you want to send them to a receiver as DTS you don't want or need a DTS decoder.
Click to expand...

This. You don't want Winamp to decode the DTS, you want Winamp to pass the DTS encoded signal to the receiver to be decoded. It sounds like WInamp is decoding the DTS source into stereo, and then passing that to the receiver. Coax/optical can pass through DTS just fine.
 
Forceman said:
This. You don't want Winamp to decode the DTS, you want Winamp to pass the DTS encoded signal to the receiver to be decoded. It sounds like WInamp is decoding the DTS source into stereo, and then passing that to the receiver. Coax/optical can pass through DTS just fine.
Click to expand...

Whoa, this makes sense. First time I tried all I got was hiss so apparently there's a problem with the setup of the receiver. will explore more.

Thanks
 
Deadjasper said:
Whoa, this makes sense. First time I tried all I got was hiss so apparently there's a problem with the setup of the receiver. will explore more.
Click to expand...
No, that means your computer is not outputting the DTS stream bit perfect without messing with it.

What sound card do you have? And, I'll ask again about the files. Where did they come from?
 
Stereodude said:
No, that means your computer is not outputting the DTS stream bit perfect without messing with it.

What sound card do you have? And, I'll ask again about the files. Where did they come from?
Click to expand...

Gigabyte MB on board Realtek HD sound.

I've tried a variety of DTS sources. a Telarc DTS sampler CD, a DTS DVD movie and a .mkv with a DTS track. Same results on all.
 
Your Realtek onboard sound probably has the sampling rate locked to 48kHz or a multiple of that. If so, you'll never be able to play the Telarc sampler CD. The other two should be no problem. What software are you using for the DVD movie and the .mkv?
 
Stereodude said:
Your Realtek onboard sound probably has the sampling rate locked to 48kHz or a multiple of that. If so, you'll never be able to play the Telarc sampler CD. The other two should be no problem. What software are you using for the DVD movie and the .mkv?
Click to expand...

This. Its all about the software and if it setup for S/PDIF passthrough.
 
I removed the DTS decoder and set the sampling rate to 16bit 44.1k and now all I get is hiss. I can't find any way to set this Sony receiver to DTS. I think it's supposed to happen automatically. Also, I can't find any pass thru setting, either in the Realteck control panel or in Winamp.

Thanks for the help.
 
Only the DTS CD has a sampling rate of 44.1kHz. The DVD and .mkv file will have 48kHz sampled DTS audio.

Try something like Media Player Classic - Home Cinema for the DVD and .mkv file. You'll need to change the built in audio filter to SPDIF output instead of decoding to PCM.
 
Stereodude said:
Also, take a look at Foobar2000 and this plugin to playback DTS files via SPDIF.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Pardon my ignorance but I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it. I put the .dll in the Winamp plugins folder but it doesn't show in Winamp. The readme file included with it doesn't say either.
 
DL'd and installed foobar. When I try to load the plugin I get -

Failed to load DLL: foo_spdifer.dll
Reason: This component is missing a required dependency, or was made for different version of foobar2000.

I did load the WASAPI output support as instructed but still no joy. :(
 
Deadjasper said:
DL'd and installed foobar. When I try to load the plugin I get -

Failed to load DLL: foo_spdifer.dll
Reason: This component is missing a required dependency, or was made for different version of foobar2000.

I did load the WASAPI output support as instructed but still no joy. :(
Click to expand...
I'm guessing you missed this part, "Important!!! MSVCR100.DLL library is required. If the plugin can not be loaded install Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package."
 
DL'ed and installed Visual C++ Redist and still no joy. Still won't load the plugin.

Gonna sleep on it. Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow.

Thanks again.
 
As others have said, you just need a S/PDIF passthrough plugin. You could use VLC as well and just select S/PDIF from the Audio menu on top.

Changing the bit-depth and sample-rate wont affect bit-streaming audio like DD and DTS. They will be streamed to your receiver at whatever bit-depth and sample-rate the files are.
 
SirMaster said:
Changing the bit-depth and sample-rate wont affect bit-streaming audio like DD and DTS. They will be streamed to your receiver at whatever bit-depth and sample-rate the files are.
Click to expand...
Sure it will. It will cause him to hear static instead of a decoded audio stream because the resampling will destroy the DTS data.
 
Stereodude said:
Sure it will. It will cause him to hear static instead of a decoded audio stream because the resampling will destroy the DTS data.
Click to expand...

Hmm, When I change the bit-depth and sample-rate in Windows, my DD and DTS streams remain untouched. The settings only affect PCM audio data for me.

I can set it to 16/44.1 or 24/96 and my 24/48 DTS file still plays and my receiver shows it as decoding a 24/48 stream still.
 
The whole Idea of "passthrough" is just that. No resampling or anything like that. It means, take DTS/DD stream, and pass it through SPDIF to the decoder. PCM output sample rate/depth only applies to PCM, it's up to the DD/DTS decoder (in the receiver) to determine the correct format of it's output.
 
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